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Jensen had started behind the dish and hit leadoff in each of the team’s last five games, so he certainly earned a day off. Luke Maile will start in his place behind the dish and will bat ninth against Guardians’ left-hander Parker Messick on Sunday afternoon in Kansas City.

Quickly growing into one of the best power hitting catchers in the league, Jensen is ending his season on a heater. Two more home runs gave him 27 in total to go along with 33 doubles and two triples. Those 62 extra-base hits pushed him ahead of Mike Piazza’s 61 in 1993 for the most all-time by a rookie catcher. Don’t let this monster rookie season go unnoticed in what’s been an otherwise awful season for the Royals.

Jensen drew a walk to open the game and came around to score the first run as Maikel Garcia bounced into a double play. His single in the sixth inning was their first hit in the contest. He also delivered a run-scoring single in the eighth inning that pulled the Royals to within three runs at 5-2. With the two-hit attack, the 23-year-old backstop is now hitting .235/.322/.454 with 24 homers, 75 RBI and two stolen bases across 571 plate appearances.

Jensen provided the Royals with their only run of the day as they were dominated by Ranger Suarez. The 23-year-old slugger took Suarez deep for a solo homer in the sixth inning for his fifth in September. He’s up to 24 with 73 runs and 71 RBI while slashing .231/.318/.452 across 556 plate appearances.

Jensen doubled to start the game and came around to score a few batters later on an RBI single by Salvador Perez. In the third inning, Jensen again doubled, this time driving in Isaac Collins to push the Royals’ lead to 2-0, and later came around to score to push the lead to 3-0. Jensen has hit safely in back-to-back games and has 11 extra-base hits in September.

Jensen got the Royals on the board in the third inning with an RBI triple off of right-hander Sandy Alcantara. He then scored on an RBI double off the bat of Jac Caglianone. The 23-year-old backstop then pulverized a first-pitch slider from Alcantara for a 440-foot (108.4-mph EV) two-run blast in the fifth inning that put the Royals ahead to stay. He also led off the eighth inning with a double and scored on an RBI single by Caglianone. With his monster evening at the plate, Jensen is now hitting .231/.316/.442 with 22 homers, 67 RBI and two stolen bases over 525 plate appearances on the season.

There’s just something about Jensen in September. August was a rough month for him with a .165 batting average, but now he’s gone 4-for-8 through two September contests with two home runs and a double. Going back to last season, he debuted in early September and lit the league on fire with a .941 OPS that month. Jensen simply loves hitting in September and could get hot enough to be a key contributor for our fantasy teams this month.

Jensen pushed the Royals out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the ninth inning when he blasted a two-run homer off of Guardians reliever Craig Yoho. It was the 19th homer of the season for Jensen, who has struggled in August. He’s slashing a disappointing .167/.330/.333 on the month but has drawn 17 walks.

The 23-year-old backstop started the game with a bang, crushing the second pitch thrown by Spencer Arrighetti for a 421-foot (107.5-mph EV) solo shot. He then walked in the sixth inning and scored on a run-scoring single off the bat of Jac Caglianone. Jensen is now hitting .224/.310/.410 to go along with 18 homers, 59 RBI and two stolen bases over 497 plate appearances on the season.

The Royals were blanked by the Blue Jays here despite Jensen reaching base three times out of the lead-off spot. He’s had a disappointing season with just a .222 batting average and .305 on-base percentage as the Royals have given him fewer chances atop their order lately.

Jensen drew a walk in the bottom of the first inning and eventually came around to score on an RBI double by Isaac Collins. In the sixth inning, Jensen would send a solo homer into deep left field to give the Royals their second run of the night, as he wound up being responsible for each of the first two runs the Royals would score on the evening. Jensen continues to do a nice job drawing walks, as he’s now totaled six walks in his last eight games, but he’s managed only four hits over that span and is slashing just .148/.270/.333 in his last 15 games.

Jensen’s solo shot represented the Royals’ lone run in an unexpected pitcher’s duel at Coors Field. Nevertheless, it was an impressive shot that traveled an estimated 424 feet showing off Jensen’s massive raw power. He’s been mired in a prolonged slump now though with just a .216 batting average and .289 on-base percentage over his last 30 games.

Jensen launched a 416-foot blast off Tyler Mahle that left the bat at 106.7 mph and was the hardest-hit ball of the night. The rookie now has 14 home runs and 52 RBI on the season and has been swinging a hot bat over the summer. He came into Tuesday’s game hitting .289/.353/.504 over his last 30 games with five home runs, 16 runs scored, and 20 RBI. He’s certainly worth rostering in most fantasy formats.

Baseball is a funny game. After the Padres put up three runs in the top of the 10th, the Royals rallied for four in the bottom of the inning on four weakly hit balls that all barely left the infield. Jensen got the biggest of those to walk it off, and he himself had an odd game. He smoked two doubles a bit earlier – including one off Mason Miller – but a knubber through the hole won it. It’s been a very hot month for him overall with five home runs and an .856 OPS over his last 30 games.

With a day game after a night game and a left-handed pitcher on the mound, the Royals will leave their talented rookie on the bench on Thursday. While Jensen is not in a strict platoon, the Royals do tend to find days off for him against left-handed pitching, which dampens his fantasy ceiling a bit. He is still worth rostering in one catcher formats given his recent performances. Starling Marte will DH on Thursday with Salvador Perez catching.

Jensen wasted no time in this one, launching the fourth pitch thrown by Ian Seymour for a mammoth 449-foot (106.7-mph EV) solo shot that gave the Royals an early 1-0 edge. He also reached on an infield single to open the eighth inning but wound up stranded at second base. With his two-hit attack, the 22-year-old backstop is now slashing .251/.314/.452 with 13 homers and 47 RBI over 312 plate appearances on the season.

Jensen bookended the scoring for the Royals in the victory. He singled home Lane Thomas in the first inning, and the rookie backstop/outfielder doubled in the go-ahead run in the fourth. Jensen has done a solid job in his first full MLB campaign with a .251/.317/.438 slash over the first 84 games, but it does feel like he’s due for a big power push in the coming weeks — if not sooner

In true lead-off hitter fashion, Jensen started this game off with a single and then walked with one out to ignite the Royals’ two-run rally in the fifth inning. Despite a disappointing season power-wise thus far with just 10 home runs, Jensen has carved out a nice role for himself out of the lead-off spot for the past month.

Jensen extended his hitting streak to 13 consecutive games with an RBI single to center field off Rays ace Drew Rasmussen in the fifth inning. It was his lone hit in four at-bats out of the leadoff spot. The 22-year-old rookie backstop has homered twice in his last five games and could be in line for a big second half, especially if he remains near the top of Kansas City’s lineup.

Jensen led off the game with his ninth homer of the season and finished a triple shy of the cycle. He has now hit leadoff against every right-hander the Royals have faced dating back to May 30, while Lane Thomas has filled the role against southpaws. Jensen had six homers through the end of April, but Wednesday’s was only his third since then, so his recent promotion to leadoff hasn’t been due to his hitting at the plate. Kansas City has spent most of the year as one of the lower-scoring offenses in MLB, but they’ve picked it up a bit over the past few weeks.